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Description/Abstract

This article focuses on three areas that dominated Pakistan during 2002. The first was the transition to democracy in October. The background to the elections and the controversies surrounding this are examined along with the main party groupings and the outcomes. Second, the article considers the tense relations with India that threatened war both in January and May. The military standoff is explained in terms of the cross-border terrorism issue. Third, the article explains that Pakistan itself was a major victim of terrorism during the year. These outrages were designed to hit out at soft Western targets and to undermine the Musharraf government. Uncertainties abounded in Pakistan throughout much of the year. These arose firstly from the military standoff with India that followed the December 13, 2001, attack on India's Parliament; secondly, from the threat of terrorist outrages within Pakistan; and thirdly, from anxieties concerning the future of civil-military relations in the wake of the October parliamentary elections.